AUTO LETTERS.

First tuneup at 40 is no midlife crisis

August 31, 2003|By Jim Mateja, Tribune auto reporter.

Q. I own a 1963 Cadillac with 743,459 miles on it. It started missing a little so I took it back to the dealer. He said that it needed new spark plugs and wires, points and condenser, coil, distributor cap, an oil and filter change and lubrication. I think that the dealer should do these things free, because they've never been needed before. The service manager and all of the mechanics in the shop fell on the floor laughing and screaming when I told him that. I can't believe folks such as this vote, drive cars and have offspring to pass on the same genetic material. Should I go to another dealer? B.S., Clark County, Ala.

A. Rgchi bnghu astzy. Oops, sorry, but it's hard to reach the keyboard while lying on the floor howling with laughter. You went 40 years without replacing the plugs and without an oil and filter change! Go to another dealer? Heck no, you should go to the folks from the "Guinness Book of World Records."

Q. T.P. of Naperville (Transportation, Aug. 17) wrote: "The 4-cylinder Honda Accord EX is a slug, meant for people who never drive over 35 m.p.h." What a dope. Today's 4-cylinder vehicles have more than enough power for use on our high-speed expressways, boulevards and even Ogden Avenue on a Saturday night.

I bought a 4-cylinder Accord EX in March 1990 and have driven it around the country with no lack of oomph. I donated the sturdy vehicle to charity in December 2001 with nearly 198,000 miles on the odometer, having saved literally thousands of dollars on fuel, license fees, insurance and ugly after-market spoilers. R.W., Park Ridge

A. You got rid of it before its first 743,000-mile oil and filter change? And you call T.P. a dope?

Q. My wife and I were in a local dealership recently to purchase a new car. We had done a great deal of research via the Internet and understood that the difference between the MSRP and the dealer invoice was about $1,800. The salesman brought out a beat-up photocopy of a document he said was the invoice with a $300 "Chicago Assessment" listed on it. Upon probing, he said the assessment meant an advertising fee. We said we wouldn't pay it and walked out of the dealership. Was it a valid charge? We were willing to pay $200 over invoice, but the dealer insisted $200 over invoice plus the $300 ad fee. M.S., Lake Zurich

A. Can't say we are enamored with the ad fee either, but when you invoice shop, you have to be prepared to pay what's listed on the invoice. Dealers are charged an advertising fee by the factory that appears on the invoice to defray the cost of local advertising. The fee is the same for each dealer based on a percentage of the cost of each car, regardless of how many vehicles are sold. The ad fee is built into the price on the window sticker or Monroney label but appears as a separate item on the invoice. It appears you offered to pay $200 over what you considered to be dealer cost, which didn't take into account the ad fee.

Q. I suggest adding Achieva and Aspire to your list of dumb car names (Transportation, Aug. 10), as in: "Are you an Achieva or do you merely Aspire?" Or: "Achieva!" "Gesundheit!" P.T., Bartlett

A. Don't give up your day job, P.T.

Q. The Chevrolet SSR is the closest thing to an El Camino I've seen in years. I bought a new El Camino in 1986 because I didn't want a mini truck--too small--or a full-size truck--too big. It was one of the last General Motors vehicles with shiny chrome bumpers, not those cheap plastic wraparound bumpers you see today. I wrecked it in 1993 and have been waiting since then to buy another one. However, at $41,000 and up, you can keep it. I paid $13,000 for mine. And I don't need a retractable roof or all the other junk they added for another $5,000. If the roof rattles, squeaks and leaks now, how about five to 10 years down the road? Any chance Ford will bring back a Ranchero? And an affordable one at that? S.P. Oswego

A. Yes, we all miss those shiny chrome bumpers though they tended to dent and ding in minor run-ins with such things as other vehicles when parallel parking.

As for the SSR, the roof doesn't squeak or rattle or leak, and we hope it won't in 5 or 10 years, either.

SSR isn't meant as a El Camino car/truck replacement as it is a low-volume roadster/truck vehicle. GM's Holden subsidiary in Australia, which is supplying Pontiac with the upcoming GTO, has an El Camino-type car/truck now, but there's been no decision whether to bring it to the states.

Will Ford bring back its Ranchero car/truck? That depends in large part on whether Chevy decides it needs an El Camino from Holden.